Arson Attempt on Synagogue in Southern France

Two assailants tried to set fire to a synagogue in the southern French town of La Seyne-sur-Mer in the latest attack linked to violence in the Middle

Two assailants tried to set fire to a synagogue in the southern French town of La Seyne-sur-Mer in the latest attack linked to violence in the Middle East, police said Thursday.

Witnesses said the men doused the door of the building with petrol and set it alight Wednesday evening, but the fire was quickly extinguished and there was no significant damage.

On Tuesday night a synagogue in a western suburb of Paris was virtually destroyed in an arson attack, and several others have received minor damage after molotov cocktails were thrown.

On Wednesday President Jacques Chirac pleaded for inter-communal peace in the face of growing tensions between French Jews and Muslims, and condemned the attacks as a violation of democracy -- LA SEYNE-SUR-MER, France, (AFP)